Cleve Brownies

Despite the extreme unlikelihood of it happening, I nonetheless decided not to risk jinxing another Pittsburgh sports team, and to hold off on posting this until after last weekend's game.

Reverend Zip

Wouldja believe that the basic concept for the Zip Codes used by the USPS since 1963 were originally proposed in the early 1950's by a professor of church music from Richmond’s Presbyterian School of Christian Education? It's true! Though James Rawlings Sydnor was never given official credit for it's invention, the Postal Museum “tends to support his claim”. In addition to writing several still-respected books on the subject church music, he contributed to every revision of the Presbyterian hymnal between 1940 and his death in 1999. Interesting guy. From Virginia Living.

Venus Throw CD...on sale now!

Just a little FYI, 'cause some'a youse has been askin'...the Venus Throw CD is now up for sale on my webshop, if you'd like to snag yourself a copy, along with a few other new items like women's shirts and note cards. Yes, I'm Wal-Mart.

Phantom Lady

This is a character who's really spoken to me ever since I first laid eyes on her years ago in an early issue of All-Star Squadron. Can't imagine why that might be!

Penguins Christen the CEC

It's all my fault!

My sincerest apologies, fellow Pens fans...I've ascertained the reason for the disappointing results of the team's first couple games at the new Consol Energy Center. Turns out, the blame lies with me.

I began this illustration the middle of last week, fully intending to put it up here on the blog to celebrate last Thursday's opener vs. the Flyers. But I got super-busy early that day, and it ended up being all I could do to even watch the game, much less finish the drawing. Pens lose.

Then on Saturday, I selfishly elected to go to the Richmond Music Festival with the family instead of taking care of business with the illo. Pens blow a lead in the last three minutes, and lose to the Habs.

Well, that's all over now. I knew I had to man up and finish this piece if the Hockey Gods were ever gonna allow the Pens a win on their new home ice! Down two defensemen or no, this befrecktacled beauty and I are guaranteeing our first win in the CEC tonight over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I'm sorry for what I did. It won't happen again.

Saturn Girl

Saturn Girl, along with Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad, was one of the three founding members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and has always kind of served as a mother figure to the other legionnaires. Except of course for the period in the mid-70s when she sported this Mike Grell Kim Metzger-designed and porn star-inspired uniform, making her more of a MILF figure to the other legionnaires.

I like this drawing, but I don't love it. I have another in the works, so keep your eyes peeled.

Venus Throw

About a decade back, my friend Bruce Smith was recording a record with his noir-a-billy band The Venus Throw, and kindly asked me to create the art and design the CD package. I jumped in with both feet and came up with the following image. Not bad, but kinda pedestrian, I'll admit. Frankly, this is where my skills were at the time.

Now fast forward a bit to early 2007...Bruce had a new Venus Throw album in the works, and again asked me to make it all pretty. Instead of a jewel case, he'd be going with a cardboard digipak this time....which meant if I wanted, I could design and illustrate nearly every inch of the thing. Running with the title, "Raised Right, Gone Wrong", my idea for the cover was a girl in a school uniform, sitting in the backseat of a car with her blouse unbuttoned and drinking a tallboy. To make it a little less creepy, though, I thought I'd have a centerspread on the inside of the CD where she's getting ready for a "date", and several "costumes", including the schoolgirl outfit, are hanging in the closet.  I took a few reference photos of my friend Catherine's 1963 Ford Falcon, and did a bunch of sketches right away:

As sometimes happens, life got in the way and the project ended up geting shelved until earlier this year...Bruce finished recording back in the spring, and I didn't end up finishing the art until a few weeks back, over three years since I began! I got my copies of the CD yesterday, and I must say, the package looks pretty great. I have some quibbles about the job I did, as always, but it's great to have such a complete piece of work...and the music's pretty goddamn great too!

Dawnstar

Crafty Bastards Time!

Aw, MAN September was a brutal month! Gallons of fun, but it was all I could do to keep my head above water, seriously. So much so that this is the first chance I've had to hype my appearance at the fantastic Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts Fair, which will be happening tomorrow in lovely Washington, DC! I'll be camped under the City Paper booth, along with my pal Kelly "Pop Idiot" Alder and all my comical wares...it's supposed to be 70 degrees and sunny, just a beautiful day, so please drop by and say hi!

Crafty Bastards program cover by the amazing Ben Claassen III

Something Odd

I noticed the other day, while lamenting deadlines too severe to hammer out a blog post, that the total number of entries here at Atom-Bomb Bikini over the last three years (on the counter over there on the right sidebar) is 140 in 2007, 141 in 2008, and 141 again in 2009. Uncannily, while those numbers are almost exactly the same, they're completely coincidental, not reflecting anything but the regular ebb and flow of the frequency of my posting habits.

Certainly shows some telling insight into how my mind works...diligence then procrastination, ignore then overcompensate, lather rinse repeat, in frighteningly habitual manner!

Warranty Warriors!

I created this cornball image for Remodeling Magazine last year...the story was about the need for contractors to offer rock-solid warranties on home improvement projects, lest they lose business in these recessive times. The goofy image worked well with the rather staid copy, a hallmark of the fun jobs Remodeling AD Pete M. kindly assigns!

New Shop!

If you've ever ordered anything from my web shop, you know the place is a little...old-school, to put it mildly. Tiny photos, broken links, the works...which is why I've decided to upgrade a bit and set up a new shop with the fine folks at BigCartel!

There are only a dozen or so items to begin with, but all the newest stuff is there for the buying. And it gets better...I'm running a "grand opening" sale through the end of the month! Enter "WWGRD" at checkout and you'll save 10% on your order!

So have a look, let me know what you think of the new coat of paint on the place...and if you do decide to drop some bucks...THANKS!

SPX Haul

I arrived home to a hornet's nest of buzzing deadlines...I'll jot down some thoughts on the show when I can, but for now, here's the haul!

From top left: Rare Words by Mark Burrier; We Take the Bottom With Us by Ian Sampson; Diary Comics by Dustin Harbin; Seduction of the Innocent by Various, edited by Lance Hansen; The Lost Art of Zim: Cartoons and Caricatures edited by Joe Procopio; THB by Paul Pope; It's Dream Time Snoop Doggy Dogg by JT Yost; Apooka by Mike Roll; Ferzan Zwei by Lamar Abrams; Derby Girls by Ray Fawkes; The Retreat by Jamie Tanner; Mixed Up and Drawings 2010 by Jim Rugg; Desmond's Devastating Dozen by Joe Foo; Ice Cream Sandwich by Jim 8ball; Cragmore by Pat Lewis; Boobs, Poop and Poo by Sam Sharpe

Liberez le Rocket

The trip to SPX over the weekend was awesome...more on that as soon as I scrape up some pictures to go along with my con report. Meantime, here's a little treat: an actual new comic! I laid out this strip years ago, planning to run it in Old-Timey Hockey Tales, but got busy with paying work and never finished it. It laid there in my flat file until I was asked by my pal Teebz, who writes the excellent Hockey Blog in Canada, to fill in with a post or two during his month-long vacation in September. I figured it was time to dust it off and complete it, and I managed to add some color as well. I had a few prints of the strip made up to take along to SPX...if there's interest, I'll go ahead and add some ordering info to the blog here.

So enjoy, and here's hoping my attempt at writing en francais isn't too embarrassing!

SPX 2010

Friends, Small Press Expo 2010 is just a week away, taking place next Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 11 and 12. After several years of taking place in October, the show is happening a good deal earlier, about which I'm really excited...for years, SPX was always a great way say goodbye to the summer and kick-off the fall, and I'm glad to have it back in early September.

Anyways, I'll be there with stalwart best comics pal and Wide Awake Press publisher J. Chris Campbell...and as you'll see on the convention hall map below, he's not kidding about the "front and center" part! We'll be at Tables 24b-25, sharing a little homeroom with super-talented folks like Keith Knight, Monica Gallagher and Tim Fish. I can't wait!

Though my new super-hero mini-comic, Diamond are a Girl's Worst Enemy, will unfortunately not be completed in time for the show, I will have the brand-spanking (no pun intended) new sixth issue of Teeny Bikini, as announced yesterday, as well as the new-to-SPX Traffic & Weather #2 and tons of other original art, books and prints. Stop by, won't cha?

Coming Soon: Teeny Bikini #6

Oh, DO Go On.

I drew this several years ago, one of about 15 illos I was working on for a book aimed at teen girls to encourage self-esteem (paradoxical, I know). About halfway through the project, the publisher was tragically killed in a car accident, and the book was never finished. I still have all the art, most of it at least half-inked, sitting around in the stacks of bristol board all over my studio. I've always liked this one, and decided to go ahead and spend a little time finishing it.

It's weird, though... for some reason, every time I look at this piece, I imagine that the girls are laughing at me.

No Express Lane for You

Here are a couple recent illos from Remodeling Magazine, who always provide a fun challenge. The first is from an article espousing the convenience of on-site delivery for building materials, and the second examines the many non-traditional ways to get your business noticed.

Why Of Course You Can Borrow My Pants

Dressy